Castlevania: Symphony of the NightVideo Game (Action Adventure, 2D Platformer)

MonthlyRank

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Japanese: 悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲, Hepburn: Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku?, Devil's Castle Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight) is a platform-adventure video game developed and published by Konami in 1997. It is the sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard as the protagonist. Its initial commercial success was limited – particularly in the United States where it was not strongly publicized – but it was critically prai... View more [Wikipedia]

Similar to Dawn of Sorrow but, this is where the concept began. As Alucard, you must find your father Dracula by navigating his monster-filled, maze-like castle. Earning new abilities grants access to additional areas of the castle. I loved growing more powerful as a character and finding more and, more rooms and secrets within the walls of Castlevania. I also loved tackling the huge and, imaginative boss monsters. The knock I have against this game though is how easy it can be though.

Symphony of the Night was the best of the Metroid-esque Castlevania games (and rightfully so being the first). Many see it as a "correct" implementation of what Castlevania 2 so nobly tried many years before. It's a fantastic game in all respects, and would probably rank much higher on my top 25 if there weren't just so many games I treasure slightly more. The art, soundtrack, and design are all excellent. Only fault I can find is that it's a bit too easy. The last few IGA-created Castlevania games however are much too difficult, so it's a fault I can easily forgive.

I will never forget the first time I played SOTN and just being lost in the experience for hours & hours on end. To this very day I still play Castlevania SOTN every year or so. For me this is one of those magical gems that I will cherish until my last breath.

Richter Belmont - Die Monster! You Don't Belong In This WorldDracula - It Was Not By My Hand That I Am Once Again Given Flesh, I Was Called Here By Humans Who Wish To Pay Me Tribute! Richter Belmont - Tribute!? You Steal Men's Souls And Make Them Your Slaves!Dracula - Perhaps The Same Could Be Said Of All Religions..Richter Belmont - Your Words Are As Empty As Your Soul! Mankind Ill Needs A Savior Such As You!Dracula - What Is A Man? A Miserable Little Pile Of Secrets! But Enough Talk... Have At You!

(When attempting to play the game disc in a CD player)Alucard - As you can see, this is a Playstation black disc. Cut #1 contains computer data, so please don't play it. But you probably won't listen to me anyway, Will you?

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a game that will stay in your memories for years. Maybe your whole life. Everything in this game is perfect. It's challenging, it has a perfect level design, the story is great, it has a lots of collectables and one of the best soundtracks of all time. You won't forget the melodies and the place where you listened to it the first time. This is just a masterpiece and one of the best games of all time.

Gaming was changing fast, Castlevania had to evolve fast like other franchises. It failed in the 3D realm on the N64 but it sure as hell found an alternative: Creating the slang genre, Metroidvania. This game can last you long amounts of hours, as you trek through a giant 2D corridor map. Being someone who adores Castlevania and prefers clobbering weapons to guns (looking at you Metroid), this game was a perfect evolution of Castlevania. This style is definitely wearing thin in future Castlevanias, but this was the originator of it. While I now prefer Castlevania to continue in the Lords of Shadow direction, if I ever play a Metroidvania, it's this one. What is a Man!? A Miserable little pile of secrets? But enough talk, have at you!

SOTN is not the masterpiece I remembered it to be, but still a solid 2D platform adventure game from a time when the genre was pretty much dying. The controls are worse than in Super Metroid (Why can't I dash forward?) and in themselves limit the gameplay to something more primitive than said game, or even pure action breeds like Shinobi and the MMX series for that matter. Several aspects of SOTN lack polish and there are only about three challenging battles in the entire game, that is, unless you make full use of the tools you have available. Also, the mist has to be one of the most overpowered abilities in any 2D game I've played. Yes, there are tons of good things to say about the game, see below for those. Then think of this post as being in the spirit of the site. UNIK4LYF